Cowboy Hats and the Sun
by Satan Abraham
Summary: It's their first date after the FAYZ and things are just about perfect. Almost. [rodilio] [post-fayz] [cute guys cute] [oneshot]


It was finally happening.

After that initial glance at the TV, after months upon months of hospital visits and not believing their luck, they were going on a real date. Not eating together and telling stories and tucking a piece of hair behind an ear and leaning forward for a quick kiss while hell raged on around them, but something real. Something with a Ferris Wheel.

Edilio Escobar couldn't help but feel nervous. They'd planned to meet at the fair, but he was running late and had just paid the entrance fee-slash-unlimited rides bracelet and was wandering around, wondering where Roger would have gone. Exhibition hall? Maybe the animals, maybe he'd want to go there. Edilio had no idea what he was supposed to do for a date when possibly dying was not involved.

Someone tapped on his shoulder and he whirled around.

And there he was.

His hair was just starting to grow out, and was currently at his ears. It was lighter than Edilio remembered, but then again, he was getting access to regular showers now. The freckles were the same, and the smile, sort-of lazy, was the same. There was an element of sadness to it, but then again, Edilio hadn't seen any of the other survivors since without seeing an element of sadness in their faces.

"Hey," Edilio said. His heart was beating almost embarrassingly quickly. He swallowed. "What do you want to do first?"

"Oh my God, I can't believe we're actually doing an actual date where I'm not about to die," Roger said, all of his words coming out at once. He closed the distance between them and grabbed Edilio, embracing him, and Edilio hugged him back. He rested his chin on Roger's shoulder and squeezed his eyes shut because he was fairly certain that if he didn't he would cry.

Eventually they broke apart, Roger wiping tears from his eyes and Edilio pulling his hat up onto his head, feeling a little awkward. "You kept wearing a cowboy hat," Roger said. Edilio shrugged.

"It keeps the sun off," he said, and Roger grinned again. It seemed impossible to not look at Roger, to not stare and take everything in and not care about what was going on around them. "Want to get something to eat? I can buy."

"I got a Kickstarter, too, you know," Roger said, nudging Edilio. "Nothing like yours, though. I swear, you're the most popular guy on there. You did so much, and you're likable, and you're cute."

Edilio glanced away, coughing into his fist awkwardly. "So," he said. "Food."

"Right," Roger said. After a bit of hesitation, Edilio grabbed his hand, and Roger grinned at him. "I'm not picky."

"I hope not," Edilio said, and the two of them headed off in the way of overpriced food. They didn't talk too much; it was enough to hold hands and walk, taking in everything and everyone around them. It still amazing Edilio to see people happy. To see little kids with their faces covered in cotton candy and teenagers splitting slushies. To see adults, smiling at each other. To see big groups of friends bunch up and discuss what to do, phones out.

Roger pulled him to the side sharply and he nearly fell. "What?" he asked, holding his hat to his head.

"Deep-fried Oreos!"

Oh, wow.

They got in line, Roger bouncing up and down like an excited puppy. Edilio disentangled himself from Roger for a bit to get his wallet out of his pocket. The line was long, but it seemed to be moving fairly quickly, so it would be better to be prepared. "How many should we get?" he asked, and Roger seemed to think about it.

"My instinct is to say 'buy out the cart,'" he said. "But probably not that."

Edilio laughed. "We can get as many as you want," he said. "And then some."

Before they knew it, they were at the front of the line. The teenager, probably about seventeen or eighteen with greasy black hair and dull red pimples clustered around his nose, pointed at Edilio immediately. "Dude, you – you're that kid."

"If we could get some-"

"And you too! You're the one they found out in the woods, right?"

"Yeah," Roger said. He glanced up at the prices. "Do you have drinks here, too?"

"Dude, on the house," the teenager said. He leaned back. "Hey, it's some kids from that dome-thing! How many deep-fried Oreos you want, guys?"

"Three orders?" Edilio said, glancing at Roger, who nodded. "Three. And a water."

"Coming right up," the teenager said. "Hey, I think I gave your Kickstarter twenty bucks. Got a sweet shirt, too. It's like, baseball-style, with 'ESCOBAR' on the back. Kinda generic, but still cool. Hey, hey, put that money away. I said it's on the house."

Ten minutes later, they were finally free.

"You're like, famous," Roger said. Edilio gave a sort-of half-shrug. It made him sort of uncomfortable, when people would make a big deal about everything, or ask for an autograph – the police thing had been kind of cool, mostly because he hadn't gotten deported, but once he'd started going into the real world with any regularity he'd started to really dread that moment when someone would recognize him. It was the main reason he still wore the cowboy hat, honestly.

They sat down at a wooden picnic table, Roger sliding in across from him and eagerly taking one of the orders. There wasn't much talking for about five minutes, while they both devoured an order of deep-fried Oreos and gulped down water, passing the bottle between each other without even having to ask. After that, though, they slowed down, splitting the third order between them and talking a little.

"Do you ever think what everyone else would be saying right now?" Roger asked. He was looking Edilio straight in eyes, blue on brown. "Like... Sam would be downing these, and Astrid would be talking about all these facts and stuff about the fair."

Edilio laughed. Roger reached over and took his hand, running his thumb over Edilio's knuckles. "Quinn would be chilling with his crew."

"Dekka and Breeze-" Edilio's voice broke, but he swallowed and kept going. "Breeze would drag Dekka on all of the big rides."

Roger nodded. "Sinder would be going over to the 4H tents and looking at all of the vegetables."

"Howard would be making a Brokeback Mountain joke," Edilio said, tugging his hat down.

"Orc would be reading his Bible and sucking down a bunch of sodas," Roger said. He swallowed. "And Justin… Justin would love it."

Edilio moved over to the other side and crouched beside the bench, and Roger buried his face in Edilio's shoulder and cried. Edilio rubbed Roger's back and blinked back a few tears himself. Talking about the ones who'd died… even talking about the ones who weren't dead was hard.

"Hey," Edilio said, and Roger lifted his head. Edilio kissed him, and when they broke apart, Roger managed a shaky smile.

"Thanks," he said. His hand found Edilio's again and squeezed it. "I'm really glad this is happening right now."

"Me too," Edilio said. "Me too."

* * *

 **This was requested by a user on Tumblr, who wanted Rodilio first date after the FAYZ and it was so much fun to write.**


End file.
